Even if Christopher Dorner is right, he's wrong: Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

Re "The damage Christopher Dorner caused" (Letters, Feb.18): Letter writer Kenneth Zimmerman's assessment of Christopher Dorner's rampage was exceptionally thorough, leaving only one stone unturned. While it is true the cost in innocent human lives is both devastating and irrevocable, it might be just a tad premature to assert that Dorner's "cries of racism" within the Los Angeles Police Department are unsubstantiated until an independent investigation is performed to either prove or disprove the validity of his claim. Even if his claim is proven true, Dorner took his vengeance to a level that no rational human being should ever take it to. He dropped a dime on a fellow officer and he was fired. Then he exacted revenge against the LAPD for his firing. Now he has to face God and receive what his insane actions are worth. -- Raleigh Johnson, Bellflower

Wake-up call for the police

Christopher Dorner's shooting rampage should serve as a wake-up call - especially to the Los Angeles Police Department. An ex-cop going berserk and taking the lives of innocent people is unprecedented and scary. That said, the LAPD should re-examine its code of conduct, which Dorner allegedly violated before he was dismissed from the department for making false statements. -- Barbara Hobbs, Inglewood

Disrespecting military heroes

I read Esquire magazine's article about the Navy SEAL team member who shot Osama bin Laden and how he is presently being treated. An idiot can serve in Congress for one term and get a pension and health care benefits without having paid into Social Security, and a Navy SEAL gets treated like a stepchild after putting his life on the line so many times that it makes me shiver. Who votes for a government like this? This would not have happened in other administrations. It verges on disrespect. It makes me sick to listen to the rhetoric spouted on a daily basis by the Obama administration. I wouldn't last long in the military under the present administration. I would rather go back to 1952, when I served in Korea. At least then I knew that President Truman was going to appreciate my service and give me all that I would be entitled to after I came home. He would not have disrespected me the way so many servicemen and women are being disrespected today. -- Isaac J. Oshana, Long Beach

After the killer asteroid

A meteor struck over Russia's Ural Mountains with the force of 20 atomic bombs, injuring more than 1,000 people. And no one saw it coming. Undoubtedly, as with the dinosaurs, this is how mankind will end. A massive asteroid will strike the Earth, ending life as we know it. No more mass killings, terrorists, wars, prejudices and dictators with itchy trigger fingers on nuclear weapons. But in a few gazillion years, a new form of life will crawl out of the goo and evolve. Let's hope they can get it right this time. -- Oren Woods, Long Beach